Adults' World
by YamiYugi4ever
Summary: Oneshot. "Someone armed entered the school!" He said panicked, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence at what he was about to say. "A-And he has Aqua as hostage!" Violence, AU.


"Stop! No student is allowed to leave the building!" The room teacher, still clad in a white lab coat yelled frantically, as the horde of students tried to leave the room, startled and confused as loud screams and cries began to arise from outside.

At the back of the room, Terra and Ventus shared confused glances, and instead of trying to break the human barrier blocking the exit, they stood from their seats and rushed to the bookshelves, were at the top could be seen windows out of anyone's reach. "Give me a boost." Ven said hastily, stepping on Terra's hands the moment his friend complied. Ven hiked up and held onto the shelf making sure to not toss away any book on his way.

Grunting he climbed at the top and crouched to not bump his head with the ceiling, maneuvering his hands to open the wet window despite their constant shaking. He struggled against the force of the rain raging outside and was welcomed by the strong draft of the storm.

Forcing his hair out of his eyesight, Ven managed to open his eyes enough to see, but instantly wishing he didn't. He gasped horrified at seeing students run out from the school building in front of the lab he was currently in, all spreading in the outside yard, some hiding, others running away, and a few searching for other classmates, every single one of them with utter horror marked on their faces.

A few meters away, Ven could distinguish red and blue lights shining brightly and growing closer, accompanied with a loud keen siren; clearly the cops were coming, but what for?

Averting his eyes to the source of the panic, Ven noticed two figures appear at the roof of the school building, dangerously approaching the edge. One was male, the other female, the male one holding the female from her neck, pressing a gun against the side of her head.

A burglar, and doing one of the most cowardly things in the world: holding a hostage.

He tried to look closer, and Ventus' chest tightened and his eyes widened in horror at identifying the hostage's hair was of a deep blue hue.

"Aqua!"

Such was the shock, Ventus almost fell off the shelf, but managing to regain his balance. Below, Terra became preoccupied at Ven's reaction, and at the mention of their fellow friend. "Ven! What did you see?" Terra called out, hating to be oblivious of what was happening.

Ven turned back to look down at the brunette, the non-stopping rain wetting his uniform. "Someone armed entered the school!" He said panicked, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence at what he was about to say. "A-And he has Aqua as hostage!"

Terra's expression turned into a terrified one. One of his best friends, was being held hostage, in danger of meeting the worst fate, one that could be brought upon her by the mere desire of a mad man. But the worst thing was, that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it; it was not in his power to control or stop this situation.

By the time the cops arrived to the front of the building, there were no more students or teachers in sight, or at any range from where they could be in any possible danger.

From the 20 patrol vehicles, three cops came out from each, all of them armed, half of them holding wide shields and standing at the front to defend the unprotected officers.

"We have the building surrounded!" One of them announced through a loudspeaker, clearly referring to the burglar. "Release the hostage and come out with your hands in the air!" Ven bit his lower lip in anxiety at these words, hearing too how below him Terra listened to this.

There was a loud cold laugh in response, one that could sent shivers down your spine and stop your heart for a brief moment; a laugh of a completely lost mind. "Don't make me laugh you idiots!" The moment Ventus saw the man remove the gun from his friend's head and aim it down below, he jumped down the shelf shielding his head as he fell.

The dry sound of the gunshots echoed loudly, and everyone inside the lab ducked and cried in panic. Ven landed like a ragged doll on the floor, grunting in pain, but shielding his head nonetheless. Only when the shots stopped, he and Terra peeked from between their arms to play close call for any more gunshots. When no more came, some students chattered panicked among them, others took out their cell phones and dialed for their parents and only a few remained on the floor, not feeling safe enough to stand again.

"Ven, are you okay?" Terra asked, seeing the fall he just went through was quite a big one. "You're not hurt are you?"

"It doesn't matter." Ven muttered, standing up, looking up at the window he had been on despite not been able to see through it to the outside. He clenched his hands in fists, and gritted his teeth furious, hating to be in a situation where there was much at stake and there was nothing he could do.

Ven heard knuckles crack, and turned back, seeing Terra's knuckles turn white, his fists clenched so tightly Ven would not want to ever face their strength. "There's nothing we can do, isn't there?" Ven asked bitterly, knowing Terra was feeling the exact same way.

The brunette groaned irritated, closing his eyes in submission. "No, there's not."

Ven scowled, making his way to hike the shelf once more.

"We repeat! Release the hostage!" The cop called again, this time giving away he was growing nervous.

From the roof the yellow eyed burglar tightened his grip around the girl's neck, eliciting a scared whimper to escape her lips. "P-Please let me go..." Aqua stammered, her hands holding the man's arm, in a vain attempt to set herself free. "I'll do anything you want, but please let me go..." She begged, her voice breaking as she spoke.

Aqua never thought she'd be in a situation like this. Cold because of the rain, her neck in pain due the strong grip that held onto her, and her body shivering in pure terror added with the cold drafts that kept running were not helping her try to calm down. If she didn't control herself, maybe the man would get tired of her constant shaking and deal with it in a manner she did not want to even think.

Aqua held her breath when the gun was pressed harder against her head, and she closed her eyes instantly. "How about staying _quiet_?" The man hissed, not in the least pleased his human shield interfered with his mental reasoning of what to do next.

What was going to happen? Many things and conclusions ran through her mind, or maybe it was just her fear manifesting in that specific way, but she was not sure what possibility was the likeliest to happen.

Killing her was probably not in his plans. He needed a shield, a reason to not get too close him, something to use as bait. So if the man killed her, the cops would immediately rush in, now with the victim dead, and seize him. And the least he wanted was to get caught, so that could be discarded as probable.

What if he pushed her down the roof, and in the middle of the chaos and confusion, he escaped? But no, the building was surrounded and he would not be able to flee without being noticed. That was out of the question too.

There was the option too of him killing himself in order to not face the law, but he didn't seem like the type of guy to escape in such a cowardly way. It was only needed to look at that smug grin once to conclude he was a very proud man.

These and more thoughts invaded and ran across her head. Which one to pick? Which one to hope would occur? In which one would she result unharmed? All these questions, every scenario, every conclusion to those scenarios, and every feeling that arose with each hypothesis, flowed in less than 42 seconds, repeating themselves over and over, becoming mental torture.

Completely frightened and with no idea of what to do, Aqua kept her eyes shut, not wanting to encounter her captor's eyes again.

But could she really trust the police would bring her back safely? Could she place her life in these strangers' hands and be convinced nothing bad was going to happen to her?

What could they do in that position anyway? Standing at the bottom of the building, only calling out for him to release her was not going to make things progress positively. There was no way this man could reason with just words, that was for certain. But what if they decided to barge inside the building? Would she be killed because the man felt threatened and cornered?

Anything could happen, in any moment, and she was not ready.

"I won't let this girl go until you clear the area!" The man snarled, nudging Aqua with his gun. "So better move unless you want her dead!" He ordered sternly, his voice breaking through the sound of the dense rain.

The ending of his sentence made her shiver and whimper unintentionally, tears of utter fear gathering at the corner of her eyes, but Aqua refraining from letting them flow.

The sound of a helicopter at the distance approaching caught the man's attention, and soon a dim light in order to see through the rain was noticed, flying towards them. He was running out of time. If that was the media, surely reinforcements would come in no time. If it was again the cops, he was in trouble; even he could not be wary of the helicopter hovering above him, and the cops below at the same time. If he was going to act, it was going to be now.

He groaned in surprise and looked back at sensing another presence on the roof, to find an armed cop aiming to the back of his head. Where did he come from? And how? It didn't matter, he'd get rid of that nuisance.

It all occurred in less than 5 seconds.

Paying no heed now to the crowd of cops below, the man turned around, with his captive still held on to tightly, intending to shoot the man in order to get rid of him. The cop shot before he could, and the bullet hit his wrist. The burglar groaned in pain, his objective lost, but pulling the trigger due the impact. Aqua cried as the bullet penetrated her clothes, and went through her skin, residing now in her right arm.

The closeness and strength of the shot was such that she was released from the man's grasp, but falling back, her foot missing the roof by just inch, and sending her down the ground.

All she could see were the incessant drops of water damp her face coming from the dark sky above, and the roof she stood on moments ago growing farer and farer away.

The pain in her arm suddenly was not registered in her mind, but all her body was focused on what awaited her once she landed.

What had the world come to? These were the kind of things she often saw in the morning news before leaving for school, but to now be involved in one of them, not sure if she was going to survive the fall and fearing for her life. Years ago you'd only see this type of crime scenes only in action movies, but now the world was growing corrupt, and it turned into a place where you'd wonder if tomorrow would come to you.

It was no longer a place where children could play happily outside in their yard, or where you could take a stroll in one of those refreshing summer nights without feeling scared. No, this had turned into an adults' world, rotten to the core, deprived of peace.

If this was the world today, what would become of it tomorrow?

"AQUA!" Ven screamed at the top of his lungs as he saw the figure of his friend falling, her scream echoing and penetrating his ears mercilessly.

The last he saw was the young girl land roughly on the ground with a sickening thud sound, before his eyesight was immediately blurred by salty tears of sorrow forming and streaming down his eyes.

* * *

><p>Nekogal: Well, this was written due the situation we are currently living in, or at least in my country. It is now an everyday thing, something you are not surprised to listen to in the radio or see in the news, which is quite saddening. Nowhere is completely safe now.<p>

As for Aqua, think whatever you want happened to her. From the way I thought this up, she did not die, but ended in the hospital in a bad state. If you want to think she died, suit yourself.

And yes, the burglar was Vanitas.


End file.
